MIRANDA RIGHTS FOR MINORS

Miranda Rights for Minors



Miranda Rights for Minors

Tudents will not be the only ones trying to make sense of new material as the school year begins. Teachers, administrators, school resource officers and law enforcements officials will also be faced with a new assignment: determining whether minors who get into trouble and are questioned by law enforcement officers at school should be informed of their Miranda rights.

Typically, suspects who are arrested on criminal charges are read their rights, which include the right to remain silent and the right to a lawyer. But Miranda warnings may also be required in situations that fall short of an arrest, when, for example, a “reasonable person” would believe that he is in police custody and unable to leave. The age of the suspect has never been a factor in making this determination.

The Supreme Court changed the rules this summer in a case involving a 13-year-old North Carolina student who had been seen in the back yard of a home that had been burglarized. Days after the incident, a police officer questioned the minor in a closed-door interrogation at school that included a school official. The minor's guardian was not told of the session, and the child was not informed of his Miranda rights. The boy confessed and was later hit with juvenile delinquency charges.

The court concluded that although there was no arrest and the interrogation took place in a school and not a police station, the boy was essentially in custody since it was likely he did not believe he could leave or refuse to answer the officer's questions. He also may not have realized that his statements exposed him to criminal sanctions. The justices ruled that the police officer should have taken the boy's age into account when determining whether Miranda rights ...